Why data centres need Immediate Power Solutions to meet unique requirements

Along with accommodating this rising power demand, to truly become smart and efficient, data centre operators must also be mindful of workplace safety, manage rising property costs, and respond to increasing sustainability concerns from both regulators and clients.

While challenging, these changing trends offer rich opportunities for innovations in backup
power solutions that not only meet rising power demand but also allow for greater reliability,
space efficiency, and environmental stewardship.

Traditionally, long-duration energy storage applications referred to as energy storage systems (ESS), were the most available and thus preferred choice.

However, with more cognisance of making operations efficient, there is an enhanced focus on Immediate Power Solutions (IPS) that emphasise power density over energy density to make for more robust operations in data centres that have complementing needs.

We believe that the success of a data centre will hinge on how effectively it adopts innovative
power solutions, utilising both ESS and IPS strategically and holistically.

Understanding IPS

To understand the applicability of IPS, we must first understand the fundamental difference between long and short-duration energy storage, within the context of IPS and ESS for data centres.

In the former, storage capacity (i.e., energy density) is the highest value characteristic. In the latter, discharge capacity (i.e., power density) is the highest value characteristic.

Now, with more sophistication in technology and demands to overcome the tendency of adopting a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, there is a growing realisation that some applications will prioritise storage capacity, while for others, discharge capacity is of greater importance. Duly, this has necessitated the creation of a new category, aptly named Immediate Power Solutions (IPS).

A key requirement of IPS applications is the availability of instantaneous, high-rate power for a range of minutes to microseconds. Applications for this type of short-duration power delivery exist across multiple verticals including industrial and manufacturing, electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, and even support for long-duration energy storage and generation products as they ramp up to peak power.

Among all these, one of the most notable and fitting applications for IPS is in powering uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems in data centres, helping address GPU and AI pulse load concerns.

With the recognition of possibilities in adopting IPS, the short-duration energy storage stakeholder community can now effectively identify and differentiate their requirements from the long-duration labels used inefficiently due to the lack of an alternative. For example, the effect of this overlap can be seen in the ever-growing dependence on lithium-ion rechargeable battery technologies, which are inherently high energy-density chemistries.

While excelling in long-duration energy storage applications, such as in grid storage for renewables and EVs, these battery solutions are not the most suitable for applications requiring a burst of power for short durations – as we see in UPS deployed in data centres and in rack with AI/HPC computing applications.

Yet, due to familiarity or availability, or both, they have also been applied to short-duration applications compromising on the efficiency of a data centre.

Choose your chemistry wisely

After conquering the first step of recognising the potential and adopting IPS for data centres – the next step is to identify the materials that can amply reflect the benefits of short-duration energy storage. Here, nickel-zinc batteries are emerging as the preferred choice surpassing its conventional competitors in the lead-acid and lithium-ion categories.

One of the earliest IPS technologies, lead-acid batteries, are often perceived as a familiar, safe, and affordable choice. Yet, over time, these materials have displayed shortcomings in size, sustainability, and power, eclipsing their suitability in favor of more advanced technologies. Lithium-ion batteries, on the other hand, have gained popularity due to their weight and size, vis-a-vis their lead-acid counterpart.

While they help save on space in comparison to lead-acid—a crucial concern for data centre operators in increasing profitability—their rate of power discharge and power density does not allow the demands of a thorough UPS to be truly optimised.

A key factor to consider when comparing battery chemistries is their slew rate, which refers to how quickly a battery can release the desired amount of energy.

Within a UPS system, a high slew rate is crucial to ensuring an outage is avoided in time. While an IPS can deliver power immediately, an ESS may require up to 20 seconds to reach the necessary output of power, which is an eternity for such an application. While this ramp-up period is fine for other applications, a data centre avoiding outage is much better served by an IPS. IPS solutions such as nickel-zinc offer key advantages in terms of space and business efficiency.

They can deliver immediate power to an entire data centre while occupying less than half the space of incumbent systems, freeing up room for additional servers and positively impacting revenue. Nickel-zinc batteries also provide better reliability and avoid the thermal runaway concerns of alternative battery chemistries, reducing the risk of outages and the cost of additional safety precautions.

IPS batteries can also deliver improved sustainability, reducing scope 3 emissions for customers. Data centre sustainability can be a key deciding factor for data centre operators, including hyperscalers, which are racing to meet their emission reduction goals across their operations.

With much of their services tied to data centres, meeting facility power needs sustainably is a priority. IPS batteries like nickel-zinc boast lifecycle emissions much lower than those of lithium and lead-acid batteries, with reduced water usage and volatile organic compounds as well. Recognising the role of IPS allows for a more holistic strategy of aligning business operations with larger concerns of sustainability and profitability.

The increasing demand for data centres will have strong implications on the power value chain. Making the most efficient choices now will have strong long-term implications – and here, adopting new technologies and optimising designs to leverage immediate power solutions can be smart choices leading to efficiency gains.

About the Author

Tod Higinbotham is Chief Operating Officer (COO) of ZincFive, a manufacturer and developer of nickel-zinc batteries and power solutions. With more than 90 patents awarded, ZincFive aims to leverage the safety and sustainability of nickel-zinc chemistry to provide high power density and performance to mission-critical applications.